Bulldogs Fall to In-State Rival UConn, 168-132

STORRS, Conn. - Following a heartening performance at H-Y-P last weekend which saw several Bulldogs beat personal bests in Yale's third-place finish, the men's swimming and diving team dropped a tough 168-132 decision to UConn Saturday in Storrs. The Elis got big performances from captain Kyle Veatch, senior Matt Lee, and freshman Mikey Bogese, as well as the first career win for freshman diver Tyler Pramer, who took first overall in the 1-meter event.

The Huskies took the upper hand early, sandwiching Yale's 'A' relay squad in the 200-yard medley relay by taking first and third overall. But Bogese (9:28.28) and Lee (9:30.81) brought the Bulldogs right back into things, following that race by going second and third, respectively in the 1000-yard freestyle.

Yale was then shutout of the top three in the 200-yard freestyle, but bounced back with matching second-place finishes from sophomore Mike Dominski in the 100-yard backstroke (50.82) and junior Christopher Luu in the 100-yard breaststroke (59.35).

Junior Goksu Bicer made it three straight second-place finishes for the Bulldogs with his time of 1:51.95 in the 200-yard freestyle, and Veatch then got Yale a big win in the 50-yard freestyle (20.81). Freshman Jas Jernail turned in one of his biggest performances of the year in that event, taking third in 21.43. In his next event, the 100-yard freestyle, Veatch took second (46.16), and sophomore Jared Lovett grabbed third for the Elis in the 200-yard backstroke (1:54.16) just after that.

Yale made a run starting with the 200-yard breaststroke thanks to a win from Luu (2:08.75) and a third-place finish from freshman Danny McDermott (2:09.06). Lee then swam the 500-yard freestyle in 4:38.93, good for second in that race.

The Bulldogs placed two swimmers in the top three in the next two swim events, as Bicer (49.38) and Dominski (51.02) went 1-2 in the 100-yard butterfly, and Lovett (1:55.40) and Bogese (1:55.72) went 2-3 in the 200-yard IM. But the Huskies edged the Elis in the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, to seal the deal and take the win.

Yet even in the loss, Yale's freshmen continued to shine, an important consideration for the Bulldogs as they head into their final regular-season meet against Brown in New Haven next week, and then begin training for the Ivy League Championships in the first week of March.